Fringe

Fringe

Fox is still trying to capture lightning in a bottle, remembering its past success with The X-Files. This new show from JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias) is a procedural crossed with weird science (as opposed to paranormal stuff). Stunningly beautiful female FBI agent? Check. Bald headed boss who may or may not be trustworthy? Check. Skeptical sidekick with a wicked cool sense of humor? Check. Spooky themes, lots of woods, inexplicable coincidences and global conspiracies? Check, check, check, check. But what the heck, if it worked once, it can work again, right?

Reviews are first posted at SFScope, then here one week later. These reviews contain spoilers.

SEASON FOUR

Neither Here Nor There – Peter Bishop never existed, at least, not as a grown man. So although Olivia and the Fringe team must meet and work with their counterparts from the other Universe, something is missing. Olivia finds herself with a new partner — the Lincoln Lee from this world (Seth Gabel). Airdate 23 September 2011.

One Night in October – A professor of psychology who specializes in serial killers is recruited to help catch a serial killer in the other universe — a killer who is his own twin. One of the best written episodes of the entire series. Airdate 30 September 2011

Alone in the World – Two bullies chasing a younger boy are killed by a mysterious force, and Walter finds himself bonding with the youngster who reminds him of Peter. Airdate 7 October 2011.

Subject 9 – Olivia persuades Walter to leave his lab for the first time in years to travel to Massive Dynamic, to investigate a drug similar to Cortexiphan. Airdate 14 October 2011

Novation – The human/hybrid shapeshifters return, kidnapping a former Massive Dynamics researcher to help them integrate into human life. Airdate 4 November 2011.

And Those We Left Behind – An increasing number of time anomalies threatens to kill hundreds of people in train or traffic accidents; Peter is essential in pinpointing the cause of the case: a lone engineer dealing with the tragic effects of Alzheimer’s. Airdate 11 November 2011.

Wallflower – A dead man becomes invisible, and the Fringe team learns he’s not the first. Olivia begins to suffer from headaches as she integrates Peter into her life again. Fall finale. Airdate 18 November 2011

Back to Where You’ve Never Been – Airdate 13 January 2011.

SEASON THREE

Olivia – Olivia struggles to find a way back to her home universe; meanwhile Peter grows closer to Altlivia, not knowing who she really is. Airdate 23 September 2010.

The Box– The Fringe team in our universe investigate a strange box that casues people to fall into a comatose state and die. Walter and Peter attend the reading of William Bell’s will and are surprised at Bell’s legacy to Walter. Airdate 30 September 2010.

The Plateau – Olivia, still trapped in the wrong universe, struggles to understand her place as Walternate plots to use her to gain access to our universe. Airdate 7 October 2010

Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep? – Thomas Newton calls on a mole shapeshifter to carry out an assignment, but the mole proves curiously reluctant, having formed ties to his human “cover” family. Airdate 14 October 2010

Amber 31422 – In the alternate universe, the quarantine amber proves to be less secure than Walternate thought, as a brother daringly breaks his twin out of the life-suspending substance. Airdate 4 November 2010

6955 kHz – In our universe, Altlivia and Peter investigate a strange case of retrograde amnesia which occurred to several people listening to the same radio broadcast. Airdate 11 November 2010

The Abducted – In the alternate universe a serial kidnapper’s latest victim entangles Colonel Broyles in the case. Airdate 18 November 2010.

Entrada – Olivia searches for help to get “home” to her universe, and the Fringe team discovers the quantuum typewriter. Airdate 2 December 2010.

The Firefly – An Observer asks for Walter’s help to make good a wrong done years ago, when he rescued Peter. But does he have an ulterior motive? Airdate 21 January 2011.

Reciprocity – The Doomsday Device turns on in Peter’s presence — why? And who is killing off Shapeshifters? Airdate 28 January 2011.

Concentrate and Ask Again – A blue powder dissolves all the bones in a scientist’s body, and the only person who can interview the perpetrator is one of Walter’s child victims. Airdate 4 february 2011.

Immortality – Bugs. Why did they have to be bugs, especially the kind that eat their way out of a body? FauxLivia and her Alt Fringe team search for an answer. The answer she gets, however, is not what she expected, and will change her life. Airdate 11 February 2011.

6B – Is the old Brooklyn brownstone actually haunted? Or is a widow’s grief opening a window between worlds? Peter and Olivia struggle for an answer to their own contretemps. Airdate 18 February 2011.

Subject 13 – A flashback episode tells us more than we suspected about Peter, Olivia, their childhoods and their destinies. Airdate 25 February 2011.

Os – The Fringe team is baffled when they discover a gang of burglars who can apparently levitate. Airdate 11 March 2011

Stowaway – A woman who cannot die holds the key to a series of strange suicides. Airdate 18 March 2011

Bloodline – In the Other Universe, Olivia is kidnapped and the Fringe Team races to rescue her. Airdate 25 March 2011

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide – In an attempt to evict William Bell , Peter and Walter use LSD to enter Olivia’s consciousness for a mind-bending adventure. Airdate 15 April 2011

The Last Sam Weiss – Sam and Oliiva hunt for the key that will let her open the Doomsday machine; Peter recovers and prepares to confront the machine. Airdate 29 April 2011

The Day We Died – Peter lives a future life, where he learns the consequences of the action he was prepared to take with the Doomsday machine. Offered a second chance, he makes a fateful decision that may save two worlds but cost him his life. Airdate 6 May 2011

SEASON TWO

New Day in an Old Town – Anna returns, a new FBI agent joins the team, Peter dislikes custard, and Agent Francis is cornered by a shapeshifting assassin. Airdate 17 September 2009.

Night of Desirable Objects – Six people have disappeared mysteriously in rural Pennsylvania, and Walter suspects the presence of mutants. Airdate 24 September 2009.

Midnight – A man walking through a train station turns begins crystallizing, and then explodes, killing several people. The investigation takes Peter and Olivia to Iraq, where they find links to a classified military project. Airdate 1 October 2009

Momentum Deferred – Olivia drinks a weird concoction of Walter’s intended to refresh her memory of her meeting with William Bell. Her memories indicate that there is even more trouble ahead for the world. Meanwhile, the team investigates a series of robberies that are tied to shape-shifting. Airdate 8 October 2009

Dream Logic – The team goes to Seattle after a man kills his boss because he believed he was a monster. Airdate 15 October 2009

Earthling – After several people are turned to ash with no sign of combustion, the Fringe team is called into an investigation with ties to Philip Broyles’ own life. Airdate 5 November 2009

Of Human Action – When the son of a researcher for Massive Dynamics is kidnapped, the Fringe team fear he may be used to extort secrets about the Fringe pattern. Airdate 12 November 2009.

August – An Observer takes a young woman hostage, violating the terms of their entire existence. Airdate 19 November 2009

Snakehead – Immigrants cast ashore in Boston are found to have squid-like parasites in their intestines, parasites which have unusual properties. Airdate 3 December 2009

Grey Matters – A series of impromptu brain surgeries on mental patients, carried out by agents we have seen before, miraculously cures them of their pathologies, but opens up a dark secret from Walter’s past. Airdate 10 December 2009.

Unearthed – A dead teenager comes back to life, but appears to have returned with a psychic passenger. Airdate 11 January 2010.

Johari Window – The Fringe team investigates an attack staged by disfigured humans living in a remote town near a military base. Airdate 14 January 2010

What Lies Below– Peter is trapped in a quarantined building where a deadly oil-borne virus has been unleashed. Airdate 21 January 2010

The Bishop Revival– Someone is testing a bioweapon that targets people by their genetic code. Airdate 28 January 2010

Jacksonville – Walter must find a way to re-trigger Olivia’s ability to see objects from The Other Side, even if it means revisiting some childhood nightmares. Airdate 4 February 2010

Peter – Walter flashes back to 1985, where the mystery of Peter’s origin is explained, along with several other questions. Airdate 1 April 2010.

White Tulip – Walter figures out that the deaths of a car full of commuters is the side effect of a man traveling through time, on a mission Walter understands all too clearly. Airdate 15 April 2010.

The Man from the Other Side – Thomas Newton returns, and Walter and his team may not be able to stop him from destroying two universes. Airdate 22 April 2010.

Brown Betty – High on pot, Dr. Bishop regales Ella with a fanciful tale of lost and broken hearts, which has at its core a genuine grief. Airdate 29 April 2010

Northwest Passage – Peter, on the run from his family and the FBI, is caught up in a serial murder case with disturbingly familiar characteristics. Airdate 6 May 2010

Over There: Part 1 – Walter, Olivia, and some of Walter’s former child subjects cross to the Alternate Universe in search of Peter, and make some astonishing discoveries. Airdate 13 May 2010

Over There: Part 2 – Both universes may never be the same after Walter and Olivia’s visit in search of Peter. Airdate 20 May 2010

SEASON ONE

Pilot – FBI agent Olivia Dunham and her partner/lover are called in to investigate a plane which did not crash. However, all of its passengers and crew turned to translucent goo in mid-air. Airdate 9 September 2008.

Same Old Story – When a woman apparently conceives, carries to term, and is ultimately delivered of a full-term baby within a matter of minutes, Agent Dunham and Dr. Bishop are called in to investigate. – Airdate 16 September 2008

The Ghost Network – A bizarre terrorist incident which encases an entire busload of people draws the attention of Dr. bishop and the team, who uncover a link to his past research. – Airdate 23 September 2008

The Arrival – An explosion rocks a job site and reveals a strange bullet-like object with properties science cannot explain. – Airdate 30 September 2008

Power Hungry – A man appears to be able to control electricity. – Airdate 14 October 2008

The Cure – Women are being turned into walking bombs by someone claiming to cure their rare disease. Airdate 21 October 2008.

In Which We Meet Mr. Jones – To save the life of a fellow agent, Olivia must interrogate a prisoner in Germany while Dr. Bishop and Peter interrogate a dead man. Airdate 11 November 2008.

Safe – The team investigates the case of a bank robber stuck halfway through a solid wall, and Olivia finds her memories becoming confused. Airdate 2 December 2008

Bound – Olivia has been abducted and Broyles hands over the investigation to Mitchell Loeb, one of the kidnappers. Airdate 20 January 2009.

No-Brainer – A computer program is liquefying the brains of people who download it. Airdate 27 January 2009.

The Transformation – An airline passenger morphs into a creature of nightmare while in mid-flight, and the resulting investigation forces Olivia to confront her ambiguous feelings about John Scott. Airdate 3 February 2009.

Ability – The team investigates a number of people who died faceless after their orifices are sealed while German agents investigating David Robert Jones’ escape question Olivia. 10 February 2009.

Inner Child – A feral child found abandoned in a tunnel sealed for 75 years may hold the key to a series of serial murders. Airdate 7 April 2009.

Unleashed – When animal rights activists raid a research facility to unleash the animals, they release a chimera created by Walter’s old partner. Airdate 14 April 2009.

Bad Dreams – Olivia’s nightmares begin to convince her that she is killing strangers in her sleep. Airdate 21 April 2009.

Midnight – Someone is killing young men and draining them of spinal fluid; the investigation leads Olivia, Walter and Peter back to ZFT. They finally learn the name of the puppetmaster behind the terrorist group. Airdate 28 April 2009.

The Road Not Taken – Olivia starts hallucinating–or is she? Walter thinks she’s seeing an alternate reality, an ability based on his experiments on Olivia when she was a child. Airdate 5 May 2009.

There’s More Than One of Everything – Season one finale. In a shocking conclusion, Olivia discovers that ‘reality’ is not what she thinks it is, and we learn Walter’s tragic secret. Airdate 12 May 2009.

Sarah is the author of the Phantom Partners series, as well as the novel Chimera and the YA novel Farside. Since 1994, Sarah has been writing critically acclaimed reviews of science fiction and fantasy television, books and movies. She researched and helped write the first three Official Guides to The X-Files. She currently resides in Northern California.